8/14/2010 - Pyramid Peak - Horsetail Falls up, Rocky Canyon down. (8mi/4000')

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This is the 4th time I've hiked Pyramid Peak (near South Tahoe, California), the other three times in 2006, 2008, and 7/17/2010. This time, I did the hike solo. I left Bay Area (Sunnyvale) around 5:10 am, stopped in Cameron Park for breakfast, and got to the Twin Bridges trailhead at about 8:35 am. Started hiking about 8:45 am, but after a few minutes, had to turn back as I had forgotten my sunglasses. So the official start was close to 9 am.

More tiring than the July hike even though probably not as hot, not sure why. Went up horsetail falls, emerged to the left a little, but still went right and then cut left to the lakes. Had to go up/down quite a bit before reaching bottom of gulch, next to Gefo lake. One bit of moderate scramble at bottom (because of loose rocks), then up the green gulch to top. Then veered fairly left to base of Pyramid peak, did not circle around to the right. Then went up the peak slightly to right of the gentlest portion. Started ok, but got loose rock quickly and then finally pass that to more stable rocks and the bushes.

There were quite a few people at top already, including a group of young men. On way down, looked for the ridge, went directly towards it – and found the trail rightaway. About 15 min from Rt50, ran into an another gentleman (from Sacramento?), who did the same hike solo as well, probably had an earlier start by 15 min?

I got back to parking lot probably just after 3pm. But locked my keys in the trunk as I was putting things away. Called AAA, truck came about 1:15 later. Got in, headed home, stopped twice for food. Got home about 7:40pm.

On this hike, instead of the usual photos, I took a series (34) of video clips, I've uploaded all of them onto youtube and embedded them on this page. They're all HD, but the initial playback resolution is probably 340 instead of 1080p, so if you want to watch in HD, you'll need to change the setting.
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Clip 25 desc Top of Pyramid Peak, near south Tahoe, just off Rt 50. Elevation is just shy of 10,000'. Photos from a month earlier: http://signite.com/hiking/archives/pi...

This was my 4th trip to Pyramid peak (California, not Colorado), and by now, I have a very good idea of how to find the Rocky Creek canyon trail on the way down. Finding the return trail has always been my main concern but after this last hike, I'm confident that I can find it easily in the future - just aim for the 2nd lower plateau, facing almost directly against Lovers Leap (south-south-east from summit).


Finding the way up has never been a problem for me, though I keep trying slightly different paths. In all four hikes, I start at the Twin Bridges Pyramid Creek trailhead, right off Highway 50. Then I head almost due east towards Pyramid Creek and then follow it northwards towards Horsetail falls. Scrambling up Horsetail falls can be exhausting, but usually not that difficult. It's mostly class 2 and if you pick the easier paths - it's just difficult class 1. On this trip, I intended to emerge a few hundred feet to the left of the top of the fall, but ended up still pretty close to the fall. I will try going way left next time so I would bypass Pitt lake entirely and head directly towards Osma lake and beyond that - Gefo lake. In this hike, I passed by Pitt Lake (~7530') and then swung left (but did not start climbing yet) till I got to the west-end of Gefo lake. From there (~7900'), I scrambled up the entire length of the gulch to the base of Pryamid peak (~8700'). From there, I turned slightly south-west (away from the summit) to get to the last section of ascent (~9250'). I like going this way (south face) instead of directly up the east face as it's a much gentler approach and doesn't have the loose gravel/boulders to contend with.

The ascent to the top on the south face is easy, mostly class 1 with easy class 2 scrambling over the last 300' elevation to the summit (9980').

When coming down, aim directly for the 2nd (tiny) plateau from the summit - see this pic http://signite.com/hiking/archives/pi... Direction wise, this means go almost directly south, with a bit of eastward turn. And you will run directly into the trail. Once you've descended the Rocky canyon trail, you'll emerge on the north side of highway 50, about a mile west of the parking lot. Now you just have to walk besides the highway back. Be very very careful on this one-mile stretch. Stay as off the pavement as you can - BEHIND the barriers on either side of the highway. If you walk on the pavement/road, cars can usually avoid hitting you, but larger vehicles like RVs can come dangerously close, or hit you dead-on, so STAY OFF the pavement!

This is one of the most rewarding and tiring hikes you will ever do. Bring 2 liters and a water filter; and lots of snacks. The Rocky canyon trail (if you use it to go down) is very very hard on the knees as it's very steep and in places loose.

Have fun if you ever go!
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